Your Tears Are Visible
by Joy Goldenpine
Summary: Kuroko wasn't one to normally show any emotion, but when he did, it was mostly in the form of tears that he thought no one else could see.
1. Chapter 1

He had thought his tears were invisible.

In his first year of Teiko, Kuroko had been put in the third string and relentlessly trained every day to make it up to the first string. He even stayed back every day to keep training overtime.

And then the coach told him to think about quitting due to his weak build, that he would be a hindrance to the team at the rate he was going. Kuroko's work was commended, but it was eventually brushed aside as nothing.

* * *

He thought his tears were invisible.

Thanks to the support of his friends, Kuroko eventually made it to the first string as the phantom sixth player for the Generation of Miracles. He played in games as a respected teammate, had friends who cared for him (Even if the one with glasses was a total tsundere), and was working to fulfill the promise he had made with Ogiwara.

Then the third year of Teiko rolled around and the Miracles all changed, victory having become the norm for them and games becoming boring due to their prodigious strength. Kuroko could hardly keep up, watching as his light rejected him as weak and his captain rejected teamwork as unnecessary to achieve victory. After a while, it rubbed off on him and he no longer saw the joy in playing basketball.

At the third basketball championship, Kuroko was sidelined due to injury and watched as the team he so highly admired completely destroyed his friend, making the score all ones. He stared at the receding backs of his friends. He could hardly see the blaring score that ridiculed the other team, his vision was so blurry.

Then he quit the team.

* * *

He thought his tears were invisible.

Kuroko entered Seirin and found a new light, someone who was nearly on par with the Miracles. He believed with his new team, he could bring down his former and show them exactly how wrong their playing style was.

Then his former light outshone the light and shadow of Seirin. He gazed down on their style of basketball; he called Kuroko's struggles futile.

And all he could do was cry.

* * *

"The winner of the Winter Cup is Seirin High!"

As golden streamers shot up into the air, Seirin's regulars could hardly hear the cheering of the crowd over their own cries of joy. For the first time in so long, Kuroko let all his emotion out in one single carrying scream. He'd shown them, he had shown the Miracles how much stronger he was than them with the rest of his team. Finally, they had become number one in Japan.

"OOOOHHH!"

Kuroko launched himself at Kagami, not caring that hugs were not only a sigh of intimacy, but emotion as well. Moments later the rest of Seirin tiny team pig-piled themselves on top of their freshman duo. Kuroko opened his eyes and found his vision obscured by tears. He was confused; he wasn't sad, no he was immensely euphoric. So what were the tears doing in his eyes?

"You fool, stop crying!"

Kagami was grinning down at him. Kuroko pulled away and saw that Kagami too had tears running down from his normally crimson colored eyes. The shadow merely stared as his light scrubbed the top of his head playfully. Kuroko suddenly felt himself break into a smile. Of course. All he had shed until this point were tears of pain and grief.

And he had thought his tears were invisible.

Kuroko put an arm around his friend's massive shoulders and looked up at the crowd where he knew his old friends were sitting. They had seen, hadn't they? Only he couldn't see his tears, the tears that were so visible to everyone else who cared about him.


	2. Chapter 2

**So this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but I was inspired by someone speaking their mind and I thought it was beautiful. Here's the second chapter to my first fic.**

* * *

Kagami judged people by how strong they were. So understandably, his first impression of Kuroko wasn't the best: the kid couldn't even dribble decently. He couldn't say he wasn't let down, though; he'd just been ditched by his fraternal brother, nothing really mattered to the redhead anymore. Not even basketball. He had joined the basketball team for lack of a better way to spend his after-school time. Japan's basketball standards were low and the players were weak.

From his experience, the weak were the people who could do nothing except talk empty words. Weak people weren't the ones who struggled to the top through genuine tears, they were the ones who had to cling to the strong and leach off of their strength. The Phantom had all these fancy words, fancy words that were nothing if he wasn't strong. Kagami looked down on Kuroko.

 _What can the weak do?_

Then Kuroko revealed his secret, the invisible pass. Seeing it for the first time sent shivers down Kagami's spine. It was like being in the presence of something ethereal, something that only belonged to the special few. The redhead couldn't quite place his finger on it, but the feeling remained, coming back every time he caught Kuroko's pass.

The feeling of the strong.

* * *

"KAGAMI-KUN!"

The familiar voice that had forever been so flat and emotionless called out to him, the sudden desperation and emotion jarring him out of his state of shock. Aomine had just knocked the ball out of his hand, proving him weaker than the other.

 _What can the weak do?_

Seeing the ball flying at him had made him jump instinctively. Catching the ball stung his hand, but the pain brought an even bigger reality onto him: his teammates were counting on him. How had he ever played without knowing that? Kuroko had always said so; maybe he just never listened.

"JAM IT IN! KAGAMI!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kagami could see Kuroko, the only one on either team that believed he would make the final basket; the one who made this victory theirs. That sort of belief was reckless and unreasonable, but...

The cheers of his team surrounded him. He was vaguely aware of his teammates as he watched Kuroko swerve dangerously. He reached out and caught him, taking note on how light the boy was, the boy that had pushed him to his limits with his tears. Pushed him into the Zone so that he could fight for the Phantom's goal.

 _...it makes this team strong._

* * *

But the game against Rakuzan also brought a new reality upon him: there are always people who are stronger.

Kagami stared down at his calloused hands. Akashi had totally shut him down, the team's final ray of hope. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could do for his team. He was weak.

 _What can the weak do?_

"No..."

Tears. For anyone else it was as sign of resignation, but for someone like Kuroko, it was a sign of resolution. His tears meant that he had been strong for too long. Kagami was frightened and surprised by the presence of tears on his friend's face, but it shone like a light in those bright blue eyes full of the fighting spirit Kagami had lost.

"No!" Kuroko yelled, standing up with fire in his eyes. "Even if it's pointless, even if it's impossible...with this team..."

Kagami had never gotten tired of hearing how he was like the 'light' and how Kuroko was like the 'shadow'. It filled him with confidence, with the responsibility of being strong for someone else. But staring up at his friend who somehow had the mental capability to keep standing after a public execution, it was like staring head on into a the night sky: beautiful lights shining resiliently against the blackness.

"...I want to be the best in Japan!"

 _What can the weak do?_

* * *

"THE WINNER OF THE WINTER CUP IS SEIRIN HIGH!"

The golden streamers were impossible to see for Kagami; sweat, tears, and emotion clouded his vision. His scream of triumph mixed with all the other victory cries of his teammates. And the next moment, Kuroko was flat against him, hugging and yelling and crying.

"Kagami-kun... _Kagami-kun...!_ "

The thin arms that encircled his body shook with fatigue and Kagami had to support Kuroko to keep him from falling. But he could feel it in the sting of the final pass, the bumps of the leather the Phantom had touched. In the fistbumps, in the fabric of his jersey, and simply in his presence.

 _...is this what it's like to be strong?_


End file.
